Crossover Cobra

Before you fall off your chair and gasp for your next breath, get ahold of yourself and be prepared to be blown away by one of the sickest, craziest Mustangs we've ever come across.

Not one square inch of this car has been left alone, as owner Jorge Gonzalez has massaged, modified, chromed, and buffed every component of this '99 Cobra with the utmost attention to detail. And don't think Jorge simply amassed a pile of aftermarket parts and threw them on his car--this Cobra is a true one-off creation that incorporates hand-fabricated body components for a truly unique look. Show competitors everywhere, take notice.

Over the past four years, Jorge took the methodical approach to slowly transform his black '99 Cobra into this wide-bodied and lowered showpiece you see before you. But the car didn't start out like this. As Jorge explains, "I got the Cobra in my senior year of high school when I was 18. My parents agreed to get me the car as long as I didn't do anything to it, so I promised them I would leave it alone. I went to a few car shows and soon started to customize it. The first mods I did were airbags and a Saleen body kit. I then showed my car more, but saw that import cars were picking up a lot of the trophies.

"Most everybody with a Mustang had the same kind of theme--superchargers, Saleen body kits, and Cobra R wheels. I wanted something different, so I looked to incorporate the import show styling to my car. Before my senior year was over, I installed a stereo system, which included the TV, DVD player, speakers, and full custom trunk. After that, I chromed my engine and installed the Paxton supercharger. I started searching the Internet for all types of import show cars and liked the headlights and front ends that I came across. I found a picture of a Nissan Silvia from Japan, then saw a front-bumper cover that I liked, so I took those two designs and started designing the front end and widebody kit. After many arguments with my parents about me spending more money on my car, they gave in and ended up giving me support."

It's a good thing Jorge's parents chose to no longer resist his wild, four-wheeled wishes because the next step was to be the biggest. The car was about to undergo major surgery, and Jorge would need all the emotional and financial help he could get. "It was impossible for me to create the design," he says, "so I took it to a few body shops, but nobody would create it properly. I then took it to my friend Eric's shop, Advanced Auto Body in Lawndale, California, and they made it out of metal. The front was widened 2 inches and the rear was expanded by 4. They incorporated the Silvia headlights and the Bomex Nissan Skyline front bumper and painted the car in my favorite color--black."

Jorge's love for the darkest of all hues did not end there, as he continued with the interior and had the panels covered in gloss back with metallic red accents. Even the steering wheel was given a shot of PPG by the guys at Advanced Auto body. The finishing touch was the TenzoR bucket seats, covered in matching black and red swaths to provide a nice place to take helm of his low, wide, and mean ride.

Although the Novi 2000 was pumping up the power to great levels, Jorge found it necessary to add a few more ounces of venom to his Cobra by installing full-length BBK headers, a 3-inch catalytic converter/X-pipe assembly (to allow the California tree huggers to eat their bark merrily), and finished off the exhaust system with 3-inch Flowmaster mufflers. Massive 5-inch exhaust tips were another nod to the import influence, making this ride quite the audible experience.

Once completed, the car was taken to its first show where Jorge began to garner all the attention. "I tried to keep it a Mustang," he says, "but the traditional Mustang guys say I ruined history by making the car look unlike a Mustang. But most people like it."

The 24-year-old college student has many more tricks up his sleeve, as he rambled off a few more surprising modifications he has in store. Although things will be on hold when he joins the Air Force in January 2006, his future plans include putting a sound system in the back seat, adding two nitrous bottles to the trunk, and tossing on a set of flamethrowers in back just for a little more show. His ultimate horsepower goal is to make 1,200 hp with a twin turbo kit. Judging by his current state of progress, we wouldn't be surprised to see this car pop up in the near future with all those mods done, in addition to some wilder changes to the Cobra's appearance.

Without the help of his patient and forgiving parents, Maria and George, along with his siblings Judy, Erica, and Angel, and nephews Michael and Anthony, Jorge's dreams would have never materialized. And without the help of his sponsor, California Mufflers of Hawthorne, California, those 19-inch HREs would have had a pretty tough time managing the roads without their Pirelli P-Zeros. Through hard work and dedication, Jorge can now bask in the glory of his creativity. Just don't let him pick sides--he still loves his Mustangs, but he also loves the imaginative force behind the import show crowd.